Bankers urged to donate 10pc of salary to charity

Oliver Pawle, the former vice-chairman of UBS’s investment bank, is working on
a scheme to persuade highly paid bankers to donate 10pc of their salaries to
charity and to get banks to reveal how many of their staff are doing so.

All staff who earn more than £200,000 could be encouraged to give 10pc of their gross income to charityPhoto: Charles Knight / Rex Features

The scheme – which remains in its infancy – has attracted the interest of Sir Philip Hampton, chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland, and will be rolled out to other banks before Christmas.

Mr Pawle wants to persuade major City institutions to commit to encouraging all staff who earn more than £200,000 to give 10pc or more of their gross income to charity.

In addition, in order to encourage greater giving by putting pressure on those who don’t take part, he wants the banks to publish in their annual report the percentage of high earners who take part, and to give executives three paid days off a year to spend working on a charity project.

He is known to have discussed the initiative with Sir Philip, who is believed to have said he was keen to make it work within RBS.

Mr Pawle will now detail an outline proposal with which he will tour the banks and other City firms before the end of the year.

He referenced the scheme during a debate on ethics and the City at St Luke’s church, Battersea, last Monday evening.

Since leaving UBS in 2007, Mr Pawle has become chairman of Korn/Ferry Whitehead Mann’s board services practice, recruiting senior City directors. He is also a founder and trustee of the New Entrepreneurs Foundation, which aims to coach 30 of the brightest entrepreneurs the UK has to offer.